The first thing I felt was the heaviness in my limbs. My eyes snapped open and I woke up to a white ceiling above me.
A medic room?
I tried sitting up and instantly regretted it, pain shot across my wound and I nearly slid off the bed.
"Damn." I muttered, gripping the sheets. "Did I pass out or something…?"
"Oh, look who decided to rejoin the living."
I turned my head slowly. Takeo was on the bed next to mine, also in a white medical shirt. He gave me a lazy lopsided grin.
"Let's go on the roof." he said, pushing himself up without a hint of pain. "I need to blow off some steam."
God, he read my mind.
I pushed myself up too fast and the moment I stood, my knees buckled. Pain spiked through my torso like someone was stabbing the wound from the inside.
"Whoa, take it easy." Takeo said, grabbing my arm before I hit the floor. "The hell are you trying to do?"
"Shut up." I said, but let him steady me.
"You've really pushed yourself beyond your limits." he said quietly, reaching into the pocket of his discarded pants with his other hand and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, same brand as mine.
I didn't answer and once I was stable, we walked slowly to the building's roof access. We finally reached the roof and the evening breeze hit us instantly.
"You exposed me to good things, Detective." he said, taking out one cigarette and tossed one to me.
I stared at it. "You thief."
He chuckled and lit his first, then held the lighter steady until mine was burning.
He inhaled deeply and exhaled a slow stream of white smoke. "Man this job is annoyingly exhausting." he said.
"Yeah." I replied, leaning against the railing and watching the traffic below. "That's one thing we can agree on."
The door to the roof opened and Miss Suzuki walked out. She looked entirely composed and offered a small smile. "I never thought I was ever going to see the both of you together. The world must be ending."
I ignored that and asked. "Where's Yoshiro?"
She sighed. "That's actually why I'm here. After you... uh... killed that demon, the barrier didn't collapse."
Takeo's casual stance broke, his eyes snapping to Suzuki. "How's that possible?"
"It was never cast by it in the first place." I stepped in, the pieces clicking into place. The demon was only the effect, not the cause.
Suzuki agreed, nodding. "Exactly. That's what we figured out. Me and Yoshiro had to look for the caster but we couldn't find one. We found a talisman instead."
Takeo frowned. "The barrier was cast by a human?"
"Yes." Suzuki held up her phone and swiped, showing us a photo. A long iron nail wrapped tightly with a bloody-red fuda. "A nail talisman. Yoshiro was the one to break it and he was instantly cursed. The same exact thing happened to three other Exorcists who found the same type of talismans."
Takeo stared into the smoke coming from his cigarette. "Why is a human going against us?"
I took another long drag, the smoke steadying my thoughts. "I don't think it's just one human."
I stated, pushing off the railing. "If this thing had happened three times before and we were called in about the same thing, we would've been warned immediately. Meaning, everything happened at the same time and that's why no warning was issued. One human couldn't be in four places at the same time to cast four barriers."
Miss Suzuki nodded slowly. "You're right about that. And because of your... career as a detective, the higher-ups decided to give the case to you."
I blinked. "Me?"
"Yes. But Takeo and I will accompany you."
I stared at her.
I just woke up from death and I'm already being given a load of work? These people are insane.
"But Miss Suzuki." I said, pointing the cigarette at her. "I haven't taken the test yet. So technically, I'm not an official Exorcist."
"Oh, about that." She said it too casually. "The higher-ups decided to treat the hotel incident as your test. And you walked out in one piece, so you passed."
"I barely made it out in one piece." I said, lifting my shirt to show her the massive bandage around my belly, still stained faintly pink.
Takeo blew smoke toward the sky. "Quit complaining, that's just a scratch."
I turned to him, annoyance flaring. "You don't get to talk while you slept through the entire main mission, Mr. Miyoshi."
He walked right up to me, smoke curling from his lips. "Why do I feel like you have a death wish, Detective?"
"Oh, I got one." I snapped, meeting his gaze. "But it ain't on me and I'm happy to deliver it."
Miss Suzuki stepped between us. "Enough, you two! Save the aggression for the field, we've got a job to do."
Takeo exhaled, flicking ash to the ground. "Fine, whatever. But where the hell do we even start?"
I took the last drag of my cigarette, then dropped the butt to the rooftop floor and crushed it under my heel.
"Man, you're so unbelievably stupid."
Takeo immediately tried stepping toward me but Miss Suzuki slid an arm out and stopped him without even looking his way.
"We need to visit all four sites." I said, ignoring him completely. "And get the surveillance footage of each site. That's the only option we have right now."
Suzuki nodded slowly, already thinking ahead. "Then let's not waste another second, headquarters had already sent teams to secure the sites." Suzuki said, tucking her phone away. "If we move now, we can cover the first two sites before midnight."
"Yeah." I muttered, rubbing my forehead. "And we just have to pray they didn't beat us to them. Because if they did… then we'll be ten steps behind and I'm not in the mood to chase ghosts."